My new article on LinuxJournal.com:

"Unlike some other OS's, Linux almost never has to reboot… or so I was told when I first started learning about it. To illustrate the point, my mentor introduced me to an app that he ran on all of his servers called uptimed."   more>>

Today I was trying to get 64-bit Windows 7 onto a Dell Optiplex GX620 and needed the audio driver for it.  I found this page which pointed me at a Vista driver for the same sound card on Dell's FTP site (R145149.exe).  I downloaded this and let it extract to the default location but then canceled the installer.  From device manager I told Windows to look in C:\dell\drivers\R145149 and accepted one warning and now sound is working.  The original site also has instructions for the 32-bit version of Windows 7.

My new article on LinuxJournal.com.  The teaser is:


"Are you responsible for one or more Windows computers? If yes then the odds are really good that you have had to deal with cleaning viruses and malware. Did you know F-Secure offers a free Rescue CD built on Knoppix for just this purpose? Let's take a look at how easy the F-Secure Rescue CD is to use."

Just wanted to announce that I have another article published on LinuxJournal.com.  The teaser is below:

"Ever wanted to instantly have Drupal, Moodle, OTRS, MySQL, WordPress, Zimbra, Bugzilla, phpBB or a slew of other open source software packages up an running in a hassle-free manner to try out or available for rapid deployment? TurnKey Linuxgives you just that."

This is just a result of my playing around on wowarmory.com  This character is the one I am devoting the most time to right now.  The image below should update on a page refresh as my gear changes... should be interesting to see.

Just wanted to post a little something to let everyone know that I am now writing for LinuxJournal.com.  My first article is a How To entitled Leave the CDs in the Office.  Below is a copy of its teaser:

"There are few things more aggravating than going out to a coworker's office to work on their computer and finding that to fix it you need a CD that is sitting in your office. If you have ever experienced that, or would simply like to no longer need to tote that book of CDs with you every day, then this article is for you."

Entropy by Marc Liyanage has been updated since the last time I tried to get a real PHP for my Mac and I am happy to report that it now is designed for 10.5!  All hail the non-chopped down version Apple should have put out in the first place.  Now I again have the option of running things like Drupal on a Mac platform natively.

Adobe does not offer a 64-bit version of Flash yet so to get Pandor's gadget to work Sidebar must run in 32-bit mode. To do this, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run and edit SideBar, changing it to C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe /autoRun. After that Windows will run the Sidebar.exe in Program Files (x86) instead of the 64-bit one.

UPDATE: There seems to now be a shortcut on the desktop for installing to disk.  Just open Konsole and enter ./install.sh.



Download your copy from Remote-Exploit.org.

So, you want to run OpenVPN or VMware on Windows 7 or Vista?  Get ready to use Regedit.  To make these work as they should you need to go to hklm:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} and look in the entries (there are about 17 of them) below it.  Look for a driverdesc that has vmware or TAP-Win in it.  In those that do, right click and create a new DWord.  Make its name *NdisDeviceType with a value of 1.  Beyond that, the normal setup instructions work great.  I used the OpenVPN Quickstart on Windows 7 x64 Enterprise with no problem.  One note though, if it is your server like mine is then be sure to change %ProgramFiles% in the server config file to the actual path since OpenVPN runs under Program Files (x86).

The reason you have to make these edits is in the way Windows 7 and Vista handle networking and is all explained at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb201634.aspx  OpenVPN's special interface and VMnet1 & VMnet8 are not actually connecting to a traditional network and therein lies the problem.

This is a computer called a SheevaPlug that plugs into wall outlet!  It is as powerful as many desktop PC's and is designed to run network services like websites, email, and VPN. Best of all, it is only $99 at Globalscale Technologies, Inc.  Thanks to Linux Journal for showing this to me in their magazine.


 

Development of our questions seemed straight forward.  We analysed the video of our focus group and then decieded what the two main topics were that we needed to address.  From there it was just a matter of formulating questions that that would get us the information needed to solve the problems.  Getting to those questions was not the easiest thing in the world but it was not too bad either. 

I finally decided to finish leveling my original WoW toon named Namdrof.  He is up to level 71 now and has acquired the biggest dagger I have ever seen... Keleseth's Blade of Evocation (click on my name and check out it's 3D model).  This thing is larger than a lot of one-handed swords!

This week I have been tasked with the following:

Which sampling procedure will you actually use for the project?  Why?

If money were no object and you were conducting the semester project as a "real" marketing research firm, which sampling procedure would you use?  Why?

Our group is doing research about the sales of Ramen Noodles. I am fairly certain that we will be doing convenience sampling due to no budget and being located on and around a college campus.

If money were not an issue I think I would want to initially use probability sampling that would then lead to snowball sampling.  It seems to me that this would cover the most people while also aiding in targeting the people who actually are important to the survey's successful collection of relevant data.

Hello again.  Today I will be taking on another assignment:

1. Complete the questionnaire found at the following link: http://www.westga.edu/~cbrown/Rsh/Bad_Quest

2. In your blog, discuss at least three things that are wrong with the questionnaire. Note: I'm looking for structural errors such as problems with question wording, directions, scales, etc. rather than question relevance.

The first thing I noticed wrong was that the first question uses "you" while two and three use "I" and "my" respectively.  Also, the format of question three is a little confusing to me... how exactly should I go about giving my answer?  Question five assumes you do not like your car since there is no "not applicable" option.  Lastly, question eight does not provide an other option for majors that do not fit in the listed options (like mine).  Oh, and there is also the problem of an online survey that cannot be answered online (a flat web page).

Now time to go look at some classmates' posts and give a litte feedback.

I signed up for NPD and immediately got my first survey.  As requested, it was on video games.  Towards the end it morphed into asking about my shopping habits.  I will edit this post once I am able to take a couple of more surveys... but that timeframe is dependant on them sending me more.

To start things off, here is the assignment that this post will be in reference to:

In your blog, discuss what services these firms provide to companies, and the benefits to consumers who sign up to participate.

• http://www.greenfieldonline.com/
• http://www.surveyspot.com/
• http://www.npdor.com/
• http://www.e-rewards.com/
• http://www.zoompanel.com/
  

Now that we have that out of the way let's dive into the first company, Greenfield Online.  There isn't really a lot of info unless you join the site.  They claim to be the "number one online survey community" and say that "Because of our global focus on quality practices, companies trust the results of our surveys and pay more attention to your opinions."  Lastly, if you click on thier About Us link they also say that they "serve the needs of more than 300 marketing research firms" which sounds kinda impressive.

On to the next company, SurveySpot.  SurveySpot has a slighly catchier site (IMO) and boldly promotes that they offer their members rewards for taking surveys.  There was also a familiar link in the lower left that set me at ease about this company... it is the BBB logo.  When I clicked it a new window opended with the following informaiton:

Survey Sampling International meets all BBBOnLine participation and Better Business Bureau accreditation standards and is authorized to display the BBB Accredited Business seal.

•This business has been operating since 09/15/1977
•This business was accredited by BBB on 06/23/2003
•This business was approved as meeting BBBOnLine standards on 07/07/2003

Enough about SurveySpot... let's move on and look at NPD Online Research.  Let's just start with a quote from thier site:

The NPD Group provides consumer and retail information and insights for a wide range of industries. We’ve been at it since 1967, and we’re considered the gold standard for market research in each industry we track. More than 1,400 manufacturers and retailers rely on NPD information to help them make successful business decisions.

Their site has a plethera of information available, much more than any other site so far.  Like the others, they offer rewards for taking some of thier surveys.  Unlike the others, they actually tell you the industries they cover on their About NPD page.  Another unique thing I noticed was a link for info for parents under which was this statement: "NPD Online Research welcomes teen members, too!  If there’s a teen in your household, read on for details." 

e-Rewards Opinion Panel has an entirely different approach.  Membership is by invitation only from a sponsor... no signing up for this one.  They have their Member Agreement listed prominently and it contains a WALL of text.  On that page they have logos from several well-known companies like Blockbuster and Pizza Hut and Borders.  Also, they too are part of the BBB.

Now for the last company.  ZoomPanel has a very simple but effective website.  They seem to be geared quite differently than the others, though I can't put my finger on why I think this.  One thing that stood out was that they mention "in home tests" on their About Us page.

Now comes the hard part... I have to decide which one to try out for the next part of this assignment... look for the results here.  Until then...

This may well be one of the most touching and simultaneously sad videos I have seen.  The song gives me chills every time I hear it.



I found this at http://www.bigandrich.com/node/419.

I have decided that I am after a Swift Warstrider.  This one may take a bit longer since I need a total of 90 Marks of Honor to get it.